Guide to Observing Deep-Sky Objects

Introduction9such as Globular Cluster, Open Cluster, Spiral Galaxy, etc. The fourth columnis the Right ascension (R.A.) and has two numbers: the first are the hours (h)and the second are the minutes (m). The fifth column is the Declination (Dec)and has two numbers: the first are the degrees (deg) and the second are the minutes(min). The sixth column is the Visual Magnitude (Vis Mag) of the DSO. Theseventh column is the Angular Diameter (Ang Dia) in arc-minutes (arc-min) forthe DSO. The eighth column is the Azimuth (AZ) of the DSO at that moment.Azimuth is the “compass direction.” North is Azimuth = 0, East is Azimuth =90, South is Azimuth = 180, West is Azimuth = 270. Azimuth ranges from0 (including 0) up to (but less than) 360. Thus, if the table has AZ = 75.00, thenthis is 15 degrees North of East. If the Azimuth is 210.50, then this is 30.5 degreesWest of South, or 59.5 degrees South of West. The ninth column is the Elevationabove the horizon (EL). If the Elevation is 90.00, then the DSO is directly overhead.If the Elevation is 30.00, then the DSO is 30 degrees above the horizon. Thetenth column is a description of the DSO. Not all DSOs in the DeepSkyObjectList.txt file have descriptions for them. Some do, such as the Andromeda Galaxy orthe Great Orion Nebula. The printout is 111 columns wide and should fit onto astandard sheet of paper, printed in Landscape Mode.